Hamas to respond to truce proposal soon: Reports

Hamas has said it will respond to an Israeli truce proposal “in a short period”, according to a report by the AFP.

Suhail al-Hindi, a senior official in the Palestinian group, told the news agency that any ceasefire would have to be permanent.

According to the report, Hamas is considering an initial deal that would include a 40-day ceasefire and the exchange of Israeli captives held by Palestinian factions for Palestinian captives held by Israel.

Talks to end the conflict have been taking place intermittently since October with Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

Hindi said the aim of the negotiations was "to reach an end to this war".

An AFP source with knowledge of the negotiations said Qatari mediators expected a response from Hamas in one or two days.